History: The legend of Casillero del Diablo began more than 100 years ago, when Don Melchor de Concha y Toro, founder of the winery, reserved for himself an exclusive batch of the best wines produced. To keep strangers and light fingered workers away from this special private reserve; he spread the rumour that the Devil lived in his cellars, hence the name Casillero del Diablo or Cellar of the Devil.

I have enjoyed the Casillero del Diablo wines before but never the Shiraz. I bought a bottle of the Shiraz to review as Shiraz is one of my favorite wines and I wanted to see if the Shiraz lived up to the high standards of the rest of the range. It does! Due to the unique history of this wine I find it is a nice wine to take when going for dinner with friends, it’s an interesting (well I find it interesting!) talking point.

There is a fantastic video review on the Tesco wine club link (Click here and then click Watch Video) which describes this bottle perfectly. A rich, ripe wine, full of flavours of plums, chocolate and blackberries and topped off with subtle vanilla. The guy in the video recommends drinking it with steak or herb(y) sausages, but I went for piri piri chicken instead… fantastic!

This wine is available from Tesco Wine Club (case of 6 = £25.59, that’s £4.27 a bottle… that’s a bargain!)

Coming from the Bodega Dehesa des Rubiales, owned by Grupo Galiciano and located in the Castilla Leon region of Spain, this Alaia red wine is a very typical example of the incredibly affordable high-quality wines that are now being produced in old wine-growing regions of Spain.

Firstly I am not quite sure what is going on with the picture on the label, I suppose it’s a baby with it’s mother, but am not sure… and why? Oh well, I guess there is some meaning somewhere!

This is a really nice wine. I am a fan of Spanish wines in general and this is a really nice example. Like the Rioja’s, this wine is very dark and has a full bodied texture, while remaining smooth at the same time.

Doing a bit of research I found this wine has the following make up:

Prieto picudo (50 percent), tempranillo (45 percent), merlot (5 percent)

I would certainly recommend this wine, and would love to have a bottle of this with some strong cheeses, as the rich fruity taste would compliment the cheese nicely.

Apparently this is not a wine for long term aging, so drink it now through 2008! Fine by me!

This was on a 3 for £10 deal at ASDA so I purchased a bottle along with 2 bottles of Namaqua. I have had quite good success with the 3-4-10 deals in the past so I was hoping to continue my run of success.

First impressions were moderate. There was no strong scent to the wine, in face I would call it non-descript. For a cheap wine this is actually not a bad thing in my experience, some of them can be a bit overbearing.

On tasting the wine I have to say I was disappointed. This wine almost tasted furry (for want of a better word), a little bit like the taste you get if you get some sediment in the bottom of a glass. One glass later and it settled down a bit, but I really cannot recommend it.

I looked around to see if I could find some information on the background of this wine. I couldn’t find a single thing about it anywhere. I wonder if this is just a cheap batch of wine which has been branded for cheap sale?

On reflection it may have been a bad idea to purchase a wine named after a Fish. Oh well, onto the next review… that one has an Elephant on it!

I think it is a great wine, elegant yet versatile!!! . The wine has a salmon pink colour or slight blush of pink. The colour stems from the Pinot Noir component of the blend.  The nose has the lively flavours of strawberry and raspberry of the red grape and the peach and citrus from the white grape.

It is an easy drinking wine and can be enjoyed either on its own or with seafood, specifically salmon or tuna.

You can buy this South African wine HERE for £7.99.

This is a wine to remember, I am most definitely going to have this wine with a BBQ.

The Epitome of elegance!

This is an interesting wine. Firstly we have no idea of the vintage… I searched the bottle but there is no reference to it.

It is a medium to full bodied red, similar in flavour to the Hardy’s Stamp Shiraz. There is a strong forest fruit flavour and it is certainly (as most of the Australian wines are) easy to drink. I picked this bottle up from ASDA, but I have also bought it from the Co-Op in the past, usually priced around £4.

I like this wine, but it does fall into the “all-rounder” category. There is nothing new with this wine, but then again there is nothing to offend either. If you want a good value “safe” wine then this is a good bet, but if you are looking for something a bit “special” then look toward the McGuigan Estate Shiraz (a bit more expensive, but has been seen on offer at £4 from time to time).

This is one of my favourite wines. It is very VERY fruity and not to everyone’s taste, but if you like fruity wines you HAVE to try this one. I picked it up for under £6 at ASDA, which is a fairly stable price for this wine. It is good value at this price point and I would recommend giving it a try if you are a Rioja fan.

I find with the low-price red’s that an awful lot of them taste very similar. This one breaks the mould and provides something very different. Put it this way, this is one wine I would bet my house (ok, a case of wine!) that I could identify blindfold!

The scent is fruity and the flavour is quite intense. This wine would hold it’s own amongst most dishes. It is very easy to drink and a perfect accompaniment to a summer BBQ!

A medium bodied wood matured wine with a creamy mouthfeel. The nose shows apricot, peach and melon. The color is lemon-yellow.

You can buy this wine HERE for £8.34.

The wine makers are Gary and Cathy Jordan and the winery is in Stellenbosch South Africa.

The wine can be served with Shellfish or fish dishes as well as veal or chicken.

This wine is a powerful expression of Chardonnay brimming with fruit flavours and elegance. Keep this wine for those special dinner occasions, although it is a bit on the expensive side, it is most definitely worth the price.

Rating

This wine was on offer at 3 for £10 at ASDA the other day. I have had it before but I decided to pick up a bottle for review.

The Andrew Peace wines are produced from single vineyards specially selected by Andrew Peace from various parts of South Eastern Australia. The collection includes two red blends, a Shiraz, and a chardonnay. This bottle is 100% Shiraz.

The first thing that hits you with this wine is just how smooth it is. It is medium bodied and very very juicy. I could drink this wine all day (well, until I fell over!). Other reviews mention vanilla, and while I can see what they mean I would say it’s more of a fruity taste similar to black cherry. Hey, the other reviews mentioned toast too… what the…?

This is what I would call a safe bet wine. I can’t imagine anyone not liking it really, it compares well with the Hardy’s Stamp Shiraz, my other “safe bet”. I will continue to snap up this one every time it is on offer, as the Andrew Peace wines are rarely this cheap.

Great value

This wine was on offer at Sainsbury’s, £3.99 reduced from £7.99. It was on a bulk stack at the front of the store so I thought I would have a punt.

All I can say is this is a fantastic bargain and I will be going back this afternoon to buy more if they still have some. This is as good (if not better) than the Hardy’s Stamp. It is subtle, smooth and very very moreish. I am certainly going to keep a lookout for this on offer again, and I might even try some of McGuigans more expensive wines (the Limestone Coast one sounds interesting).

It says on the bottle “keeps for up to 2 years”.. yeah, right! It’s not going to keep for 2 weeks in my house!

Heartily recommended

This wine delights with aromas and flavours of rich tropical fruit and hints of honey with a subtle vanilla flavour. The colour is pale yellow. The wine goes well with a light meat dish or is suitable for drinking on its own.

I would say it is well priced at R27.99 and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys a wine that is easy drinking and very smooth.

Edit (Jim): R27.99 (South African Rand) equates to approx £1.95. This is average price over in South Africa. Just goes to show how much our government is fleecing us in tax in the UK!